NJ Music Odds and Ends: Thomas Wesley Stern, Happy Mondays, Vote for Lost Romance

Dentist plays Happy Mondays at The Wonder Bar tomorrow night.

Pre- and Post- Super Stuff

New Jersey is hosting today's game, but that fact appears to be lost on much of the country. Well, there are a few things you can do over the next couple of days to show some support for New Jersey music anyway. As you get ready to decide which huge corporation tried to sell you stuff in the funniest, sexiest, most interesting way, think about adding one or two of these to your plans.

Thomas Wesley Stern will be playing two sets of their fun and foot stomping roots revival music for this Sunday's Country Comfort at Langosta Lounge between 1pm and 4pm today. It's an excellent way to get back to basics -- and to enjoy an excellent Bloody Mary -- before the sensory onslaught of today's game.

Tomorrow will be the first February edition of The Wonder Bar's Happy Mondays. It's an all-NJ edition featuring New Brunswick's Lovelectric, Trans Charger Metropolis (whose "A Less Dense Dimension" made Alex Rosen's list of best local songs of 2013), and our good friends, Asbury Park's lo-fi dream poppers, Dentist.

Also tomorrow, voting opens for 2014's Hard Rock Rising competition. It's billed as a "global battle of the bands," and New Brunswick alt rock band, Lost Romance, will be competing. You can head over to Hard Rock New York's Facebook page to cast your vote starting tomorrow. All the details of the contest are available at Lost Romance's website.

See that? You've got plenty of chances to support New Jersey and its music, and you don't have to miss a single, big commercial.

Have fun. Enjoy the game. Don't drink and drive. And, remember, you probably have to work tomorrow.

Pics from Saturday at The Saint: Lost Romance, Grey Goes Black, Geena & Dragster, The Battery Electric

Light of Day Rock

Saturday was my first night venturing out -- and my only Light of Day show -- following an almost weeklong bout with the flu. Luckily it was an early show. I coughed my way through four great sets before I had to pack it in for the evening.

I got to hear the alt-rock sounds of New Brunswick's Lost Romance, the dark and moody rock of Grey Goes Black, Geena and Dragster's Jersey Shore garage rock, and the whiskey-fueled hard rock of Asbury's The Battery Electric. Unfortunately, I wasn't at 100%; so I had to head home at around 11 and miss the acoustic set from Ropetree along with the night's closer from Pocketful.

Below are pictures of all four of the sets I did catch.

Guest List: Gerry Perlinski's Top 5 Band Discoveries of 2013

Our First List of December

I've asked several FoCDM (That's Friends of CoolDad Music, in case you've forgotten) to help me close out the year by providing their own reflections on 2013. So far, Mike V has given us his top albums of the year and Scotch LaRock has given us his top songs.

As I asked around for contributions, I often heard that people wanted to include some stuff that was new to them on their lists rather than being restricted to 2013 releases or break-outs. Totally cool. What's the point of listening to music or, even, checking out lists if not discovery? So I relaxed the normally (not very at all) strict editorial policy here at CoolDad Music.

Gerry Perlinski fronts New Brunswick alt-rockers Lost Romance and did an interview with me a few months back. Lost Romance released their first EP, The Light And The Dark, in 2013 and they've still got a few area dates on the docket as the year winds down.

Gerry provided us with the top 5 bands he discovered during his own, very busy, 2013.

Top 5 Best Bands I Discovered In 2013
by Gerry Perlinski, Songwriter / Guitarist for Lost Romance

1. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
As big as they've become, they were new to me in 2013. I love how diverse The Heist was musically. It wasn't straight hip/hop, R&B or dance music. Macklemore is a great lyricist and rapper, but he never makes you feel like he's only talking to the hip/hop crowd with the standard money, sex and power themes. The themes are universal, but personal enough to draw you in. I'm really looking forward to see what they do next.

2. Japandroids
These two guys pump out more energy than a band with twelve people. What I love about them is the feeling of reckless abandon contrasted with the uplifting moods of their songs. They are not over-thinking anything here. Straight up power-pop in the style of The Replacements or Husker Du without being kitschy. They are the real deal.

3. Dead Sara
This band is off-the-charts good. They sound like an 18-wheeler going through a brick wall. Heavy and melodic with an amazing singer. Really can't wait to see them live!

4. John & Brittany
Some of the best pop/rock around. Cheeky lyrics and hooks for days. Theyhave the real rock n' roll swagger that so many bands fall flat trying to emulate. We played with these guys in Philly this year and can't wait todo it again!

5. The 1975
Really smart, catchy 80's-inspired pop with an indie rock edge. They do it without sounding like a rip-off of anyone, which is very hard to do. Just super fun stuff.

Interview: Gerry Perlinski, Lost Romance

The Light and The Dark Out on September 17th

Quite simply, Lost Romance are a New Brunswick, NJ trio that play rock and roll. Their songs feature both big, rock guitar sounds and catchy, pop hooks. What Lost Romance have come up with is an alt-rock / power pop combination that's both hard-driving and accessible.

The band are set to release their first studio EP, The Light and The Dark, on LA's Starving Dog Records next week. To celebrate, they'll be holding a release show at New Brunswick's Court Tavern this Saturday, September 14th. Joining them on that bill will be Science (a project featuring Lost Romance bassist, Alexander Paul), Chris Batten and the Woods, and The Everymen.

I sent a few questions over to Lost Romance founding member, guitarist, and songwriter Gerry Perlinski. Read on to find out about the band's approach to creating their first studio recording and about some of the things the band have on "tap" for their release show (Hint: That was a really bad pun.).

CDM: Your band is called Lost Romance. A lot of the music that New Jersey is famous for -- Bruce, The Gaslight Anthem -- contains a pretty big strain of romance. On The Light and The Dark, I can hear some of that big, TGA-style sound. Is that something you guys are going for? Keeping the romance in rock music?

GP: Absolutely! I think that's what missing in a lot of today's music. There's no danger, no passion and as you put it, no romance in rock music. That's not to say there isn't any good modern music out there, because there certainly is. But, it seems that so many new bands are out there playing it safe. They are doing what they think people are into instead of being vulnerable and real. But, that's the way I've always written my songs. I try to take personal experiences and make them relatable to the everyday listener. There's a place for confessional songwriting, but to me the best music leaves things to the listener's imagination. That way, it becomes personal to them in a way only they know.

CDM: You guys have been a band since 2010 and The Light and The Dark is your debut studio release. You've been pretty relentless about playing live, though, even releasing the live recording Live at Great Scott last year. How do you go about capturing the energy of your live shows in the studio?

GP: We record all the basic tracks live. So bass, guitar and drums, plus some scratch vocals are all done live. To me that's the key to making the studio tracks feel like it's a live show. It's the closest you can get without actually being in a club. We don't do many overdubs or effects, so it's pretty pure.

CDM: Lost Romance are a straight-up power trio. It sounds to me like you try to combine the sound of guitar-driven bands of the 1980s and 1990s like The Replacements or Hüsker Dü with a real ear for pop. Can you talk a little more about the recording process? What's the band's songwriting process? Do you have a songwriting philosophy or are you doing what comes naturally?

GP: As I mentioned earlier, the recording process is very raw. We want the songs to speak for themselves as opposed to having the studio do the talking. There's a place for pristine production and multi-tracking and all that, but we're keeping things real and honest for now. We want to give people hearing our songs for the first time a taste of what to expect in the live show.

The songs at this point are mainly written by me, but that's changing. I'm a much different songwriter when we jam together as opposed to sitting in my house working out tunes on an acoustic guitar. It inspires me to write outside of my comfort zone and I think that makes for exciting music.

CDM: You've got this release show for The Light and The Dark coming up on September 14th at The Court Tavern in New Brunswick. What special things do you have planned for that night?

GP: Fire-eaters, sword swallowers and jugglers are all on tap for the show! Joking aside, we are planning a big night with some great friends on board. We have our bass player Alexander's band Science opening up the night, Chris Batten & The Woods right before us to get everyone fired up, plus the ubiquitous and raucous The Everymen closing out the night. I'm sure we'll be sharing the drunken mic with all of those bands at some point during the night with some sick covers as well.

We're also working with a new micro-brewery based out of Virginia called Starr Hill Brewery to help promote the event. We're going to have a beer special for the night called "The Light And The Dark" which will be a black and tan (Northern Lights IPA & Dark Starr Stout) named after our EP. We're pretty psyched about that!

CDM: So your debut studio recording is almost out. You're doing the big record release show at the iconic Court Tavern. What does Lost Romance have on tap for the rest of the year? Can we expect to see you again around Asbury Park?

GP: The rest of the year will see much more touring all over the Northeast and perhaps a West Coast tour at some point in support of the EP. We'll know more once the radio charts start coming back in. We'll also be hitting the studio to begin our follow up to this recording before year's end. As far as Asbury Park, it's a guarantee that we'll be back there to shake things up very soon, so look out!

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I'd like to thank Gerry for taking the time to answer my questions. You can stream The Light and The Dark right now over at Lost Romance's Soundcloud.

Don't Miss Upcoming Releases from The Great American Novel, Lost Romance, Sunday Guts, Sink Tapes

Attention, Please

Back in the summer of 2002, The New York Times asked then White House Chief of Staff Andy Card why we hadn't yet seen a big push for action against Iraq.

"You don't release new products in August," was his famous response.

That appears to be true in the music industry as well. After an August during which I had some trouble finding new things to write about, new release after new release started to drop; and it became hard to keep up. Diarrhea Planet, Superchunk, No Age, Crocodiles, Neko Case, Okkervil River,... ...even The Pixies. The world has new releases from MGMT and Arcade Fire to look forward to later this year.

I hope to get around to saying something about all of those; but first, I'd like to direct your attention to a few releases coming out in the next week or two from bands who may or may not get reviewed by Pitchfork or Rolling Stone. I've spent some time with each of these over the last several weeks; and, as big as this fall looks in terms of big name releases, I think it's also shaping up as a banner season for some up and comers.

The Great American Novel, :( (The Frown Album) (September 10th) -- Fun. Funny. Fast-paced. Concise. Layne Montgomery and his New York bandmates deliver a collection of power pop that rarely takes its foot off the gas.

The album ranges from the early Elvis Costello inspired opener "This Song Will Make You Love Me" to the pop punk of closer "Ubik." Beneath the upbeat arrangements, though, Montgomery sneers out lines like "sitting at home on Facebook / Just staring at your face," making you realize why -- as you bop around enjoying yourself -- this album isn't called :).

Lost Romance, The Light and The Dark EP (September 14th) -- Lost Romance, the brainchild of songwriter / guitarist Gerry Perlinski, have been at it since 2010. I got a chance to see them perform as part of the Tiny Giant Artist Collective's Summer Bummer back in June, and the New Brunswick trio's brand of guitar-heavy alternative rock makes for an exciting live show.

This four-song studio debut goes a long way toward capturing some of that energy. Taking Hüsker Dü-type wall of sound guitar and passing it through the filter of 1990s alternative rock, Lost Romance come up with a big sound that remains accessible. The best example of this is opener "Silver Bullet," which packs a big, rock and roll punch into its 2+ minute running time.

Sunday Guts, Leave It Go EP (September 17th) -- The Bethlehem, PA duo of Billy Kilgannon and Victor Berger IV produce pristine pop reminiscent of Beatles or Brian Wilson-inspired acts like The Smithereens or XTC / Dukes of Stratosphear.

The four-song Leave It Go EP features keys, synths, guitar, and a vocal style that come together extremely well on the collection's center piece "Edge of the Universe." Each of the tracks here, though, reveal that Kilgannon and Berger understand how to craft a pop song.

Sink Tapes, How You Mean (September 17th) -- This New Brunswick, NJ band melds the jangle of REM, the deadpan vocals of The Velvet Underground, and the alterna-pop of Tim-era Replacements to produce a contender for "CoolDad's Favorite Album of 2013 By a New Jersey Band."

Standout tracks "Super Happy" and "Your Mouth Is On My Mind" make me feel like the New Jersey indie pop tradition of bands like The Feelies and The Wrens is in safe hands. Together with this spring's Mattress Cowboys EP, How You Mean forms a collection as solid as almost anything else I've heard so far in 2013.



There you go. Four releases over the next two weeks that don't deserve to get lost in the deluge of post-August product launches.